Doc.  No.  1.]  [Adj.  Ses.  1864. 


Ordered  to  be  Printed. 


W.  W.  Hoiden,  Printer  to  the  State. 


GOVERNOR'S  MESSAGE. 

The  Honorable,  the  General  Assemhly 

of  North-Carolina? 

Since  your  last  adjournment,  various  and  important  change* 
in  the  situation  of  our  affairs  have  occurred,  and  many  of 
them  require  legislative  action  at  your  hands. 

The  late  act  of  Congress  conferring  power  on  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Confederate  States,  to  impose  regulations  and 
restrictions  on  commerce  has  given  rise  to  such  a  system,  on 
the  part  of  the  Confederate  authorities,  as  will  effectually 
exclude  this  State  from  importing  any  farther  supplies  fb? 
the  army  or  people.  The  port  of  Wilmington  is  now  more 
effectually  blockaded  from  within  than  without.  The  terms 
imposed  upon  ship  owners,  being  such  that  a  heavy  loss  ia 
incurred  by  every  voyage — and  notwithstanding  the  said  act 
provides,  "  That  nothing  in  this  act  shall  be  construed  to  pro- 
hibit the  Confederate  States,  or  any  of  them,  from  importing' 
any  of  the  articles  herein  enumerated  on  their  own  ac- 
count,"— yet  this  is  so  construed  by  the  government,  as  Jo 
compel  the  States  to  submit  to  the  same  terms  as  are  imposed' 
on  private  parties ;  and  clearances  are  refused  and  the  guns 
of  the  fortifications  brought  to  bear  upon  our  own  vessels  to 
compel  a  compliance. 

Private  parties  importing  supplies  for  the  government,  by 
contract,  for  enormous  profits,  are  not  taxed  by  these  regula- 
tions ;  yet  the  State  of  North-Carolina,  importing  almost  solely: 
the  same  articles  for  the  same  purpose,  is  compelled  to  submit  to 
them.    I  deem  it  in consiste n t  with  the  public  interests  to  refer 


2  Document  No.  t.  [Adj.  Session 

more  particularly  to  our  blockade  running  transactions  and 
the  loss  which  the  State  will  suffer  on  both  ships  and  supplies 
on  hand,  if  these  regulations  continue  in  force.  When  this 
is  considered  with  the  farther  fact,  as  I  hold  it,  that  the  gen- 
eral government  has  no  right  to  seize  one-half,  or  any  part  of, 
the  interest  of  a  sovereign  State  in  the  vessels  employed  in 
importing  her  supplies  (this  being  the  terms,  to  which  we 
are  called  upon  to  submit,)  or  to  impose  such  regulations  aa 
will  destroy  instead  of  regulating  commerce,  it  becomes  your 
province  to  demand  a  repeal  or  modification  of  the  act,  and 
I  respectfully  and  earnestly  recommend  that  you  do  so.  And 
in  case  Congress  should  decline  to  repeal  or  modify  the  act, 
I  respectfully  ask  for  directions  as  to  what  I  shall  do  with  the 
shjps  and  supplies  on  hand.  A  detailed  statement  of  these 
supplies  together  with  an  account  as  accurate  as  can  be, 
without  vouchers  for  expenditures  abroad  not  yet  received,  is 
herewith  submitted — together  with  the  report  of  Mr.  John 
White,  our  special  Commissioner  to  Europe.  In  reference 
to  this  gentlemen,  it  is  due  to  him  that  I  should  say,  that  I 
have  every  reason  to  be  pleased  with  the  skill  and  fidelity 
with  which  he  performed  the  duties  of  his  difficult  mission. 
A  report  of  the  operations  of  our  other  Commissioner,  Col. 
D.  3L  McEae,  necessarily  incomplete,  is  also  submitted,  and 
will,  1  believe,  be  found  equally  satisfactory,  and  creditable 
to  him  as  Commissioner.  In  this  connection  I  respectfully 
ask  for  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  investigate  all  mat- 
ters appertaining  to  the  blockade-running  of  the  State,  to  be 
appointed  at  an  early  day,  so  as  to  report  to  your  present 
session  if  possible.  No  appropriation  has  been  made  by 
your  honorable  body  to  pay  the  current  expenses  of  the 
vessels  engaged  in  running  the  blockade,  and  none  will  be 
necessary,  for  these  expenses  can  be  paid  by  selling  bills, 
drawn  on  our  agent  in  England,  as  being  incurred  in  Wil- 
mington chiefly  for  the  expenses  connected  with  the  loading 
and "  unloading  vessels,  compressing  cotton,  &c,  and  they 
can  be  discharged  in  currency.  I  would  suggest  that  you 
authorize  the  Treasurer  to  purchase  these  bills  out  of  any 


Document  No.  1.  8 

money  in  the  Treasury,  and  thus  keep  the  sterling  exchange 
in  the  Treasury — which  otherwise  would  have  to  be  put  on 
the  general  market,  and  be  lost  to  the  State. 

Being  convinced  from  experience  that  the  legitimate 
business  of  my  office,  now  four-fold  greater  than  formerly,  ia 
sufficient  to  tax  all  my  energies  of  mind  and  body,  and  that . 
I  cannot  do  .justice  to  the  interest  of  the  State  in  a  business, 
so  complicated  as  many  of  the  transactions,  which  are  car- 
ried on  at  such  a  distance,  I  respectfully  recommend  that 
a  commission  of  one  or  more  gentlemen,  skilled  in.  fettcl* 
business  be  appointed  to  conduct  the  future  operations  <bf  the 
State,  in  importing  supplies,  whether  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
tinuing the  operations  or  winding  up  the  business. 

A  report  of  the  Adjutant  General  covering  reports  of  his 
subordinates  in  the  different  departments  is  herewith  sub- 
mitted. 

The  impressment;  ©f  property  of  citizens  by  officers  and 
agents  of  the  Confederate  ^0v<er«mentj  harsh  enough  in  itself* 
has  become  doubly  so,  by  the  'eoftstafefc  -disregard  of  the  pro- 
vision of  the  law  regulating  seizures.     In  addition  to  this, 
thu  flagrant  outrages  committed,  in  every  part  of  the  country,, 
hy  straggling  soldiersi  and  other  persons  in  the  Confederate 
service,  having  no  shadow  of  authority  to  impress  property, 
has  become   a  grievance   almost  intolerable.     A  recital  (A 
many  instances  of  such,  which  have  been  brought  to  my 
knowledge,  would  shock  the  moral  sense  of  the  most  heartless. 
I  have  urged  in  vain  upon  the  authorities  of  the  Confed- 
eracy to  check  this  evil,  and  have  used  every  possible  effort 
to  do  so  myself.     But  it  seems  to  grow  worse,  and  as  the  sup- 
plies of  our  people  become  more  scant  they  feel  more  sen- 
sibly this  unjust  deprivation  of  their  property,  which  reduces 
them  almost  to  the  verge  of  starvation.     It  must  be  stopped, 
V,         if  possible,  and  I  earnestly  recommend  such  action  on  your 
^         part  as  you  may  think  best  «alculated  to  aid  me  in  rem- 
^.        edying  the  evil.    My  correspondence  with  the  War  Dep'art- 
^        ment  on  this  subject  is  submitted  for  your  consideration.     I 
f-L       desire  to  call  your  attention  specially  to  certain  enactments 


£  Document  BTd.  I.  [-^-dj-  Sessio® 

of  tlie  last  CoEgress  of  the  Confederate  States.  Among  them 
is  one  extending  the  age  of  conscription  from  17  to  18,  and 
from  45  to  50  years,  which  force  is  to  be  organized  as  a  State ' 
reserve — their  company  officers  to  be  elected,  and  the  field 
officers  appointed  by  the  President,  and  all  to  be  under  his- 
command. 

In  addition  to  the  great  injury  to  be  apprehended  to  the 
agricultural  interests  of  the  country,  should  these  men  be 
ordered  into  actual  service.  I  have  to  remind  yon  that  it  will 
absorb  the  entire  militia  force  ot  the  State,  and  would  leave1 
the  Executive  with  no  force  whatsoever  except  State  offi- 
cers— a  condition  dangerous  at  once  to  the  peace  and  order 
of  the  State,  and  to  its  sovereignty  and  dignity.  There  can 
scarcely  be  a  doubt  of  the  inexpediency  of  this  act  as  to  this 
State ;  since  the  same  men  with  the  exception  of  boys  from 
17  to  18  are  now  very  thoroughly  organized  as  Home  Guaids 
under  State  authority,  and  have  been  heretofore  and  would 
be  again  promptly  turned  out  in  cases  of  great  public  danger. 
Grave  doubts  are  also  entertained  of  its  constitutionality;  the 
forces  raised  under  it  being  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
militia,  the  control  of  which  cannot  be  legally  taken  from  the 
Executive  of  the  State  government — at  least  so  far  as  the  ap- 
pointmer  t  and  commissioning  of  officers  is  concerned.  Should 
you,  however,  in  the  absence  of  a  judicial  decision  as  to  the 
constitutionality  of  the  act,  decline  to  take  the  responsibility 
of  refusing  assent  to  it,  there  will  be  an  indispensable  necessi- 
ty of  your  constituting  some  militia  force  for  the  preservation 
ot  law  and  order  in  the  State — by  extending  the  age  of  ser- 
vice in  the  militia,  and  by  some  new  organization  of  the 
remnants  of  the  Militia  and  Home  Guard  organizations; 
otherwise  I  shall  have  on  my  hands  the  officers  of  two  dis- 
tinct organizations,  powerless  for  want  of  men.  In  this 
connection  I  would  mention  that  the  same  act  of  Congress 
has  again  conferred  upon  me,  without  reference  to  the  Leg- 
islature, the  power  to  claim  the  exemption  of  such  State 
officers  as  I  may  deem  necessary  for  the  due  administration 
of  the  laws.    Not  wishing  to  take  so  impoitant  a  respond- 


1864.]  Document  No.  1. 

bility  upon  my  shoulders  without  consulting  the  representa- 
tive^ the  people,  I  have  so  far  claimed  the  exemption  of 
all  civil  and  military  officers  of  the  State,  together  with  the  m- 
dispensibte  employees  of  the  fflfomt  departments  ot  the  btate 
■vowwmmmt,  m  enumerated  bf  your  foody  at  its  late  extra 
sesshm.  A»4  1  now  respectfi%  ask  that  you  indicate  to  me 
%  resolution,  what  persons  you  regard  as  proper  subjects  tor 
•exemption.  „ 

1  have  tdkenfhe  groxmi  tM,  the  exemption  of  State  officers 
from  ^conscription  fatottftft  Confederate  service  is  not  by  iayor 
of  Congress,  feist  fe  &  fatter  of  right  inherent  in.  a  sovereign 
State,  and  ttSbaJt^f  tJhe  same  reason  the.:State-haa-  an  indl^* 
itable  Tight  to  the  services  of  laborers- amdlotlier  peisons^ 
-•are  awco^arily  in  her  employ,  though ^hey  be^no '  |P 
^ithiTithQ   meaning  of  the  act-  of  \  Odngreaa.    bBoa   ^  ^ 
agree  whli  we  in  this  opinion,  I  would  be  happy 
srjataiiaed  'by  &  resolution  to  that  effect.  maud  - ' 

Should  yo*a  conclude  to   combine  the   Hc-me^  ^ 

3filitia  organizations,  \  recommend   that    tba'sw*    '  .      e  pre, 
;serve4.     I  should  regret  exceedingly  to  see  thfis1*51    Ma  abol- 
ashed, -aa-d  its  organisation  destroyed.     It  is  tl^e^ident  and 
Jtime-honored  military  institution  of  the  State,  •  ■**»!•  fflaia  de- 
fpenfience   inordinary  times,  for  the  suppression  *?*  "B&eiMiba 
tand  repelling   q$;  invasion,  and  though  shorn  of  itas  b^ngth 
<bj  the  raising  oft  great  armies,"  aild  despite  its  ntfatiyvah\?jGfe. 
«comings,  it  has  bm&  oft  #fMK  s&r'yice  both  t<x '  th©^cHsst%  w<k 
^Confederacy  diuring  this  war:' 

Among  the  acts  of  Congress  'referred  to,  that  which  has 
suspended  the  privilege  of  habeas  corpus  has  most  thoroughly 
.aroused  public  attention,  J&either  the  losses  incurred  by  the 
radical  and sudden  changes  in  the  currency,  nor  the  conscrip- 
tion of  the  principals  of  substitutes,  nor  the  extension  of  it  to- 
such  an  age>  and  upon,  such,  terms  as  to  place  the  industrial 
pursuits,  of  the  country  at  the  feet  of  the  President,  nor  the 
heavy  burthens  of  taxation— none  of  these,  nor  all  of  them 
together,  have  so  awakened  the  public  feeling  as  the  with- 
drawal of  this  time-honored  and,  blood-bought  guard  of  per- 


I  Document  Ko.  1.  [Adj.  Sessioii 

sonai  freedom,  from  the  people  in  times  when  it  is  most  need- 
ed for  their  protection.  It  is  true  that  our  forefathers  as- 
sumed, and  this  generation  has  conceded,  that  in  cases  of  re- 
bellion and  invasion,  the  public  safety  may  sometimes  require 
its  suspension ;  and,  therefore,  we  have  conferred  on  the  Con- 
gress the  power  of  suspension  in  such  cases,  when  the  pub- 
lic safety  may  require  it.  Nor  can  it  be  doubted  that  the 
power  authorized  to  suspend  is  the  sole  power  entitled  to 
judge  of  the  necessity  for  the  act,  and  if  the  late  statute  had 
merely  prohibited  out  and  out  the  use  of  the  writ  for  the  time 
specified,  there  could  be  no  complaint  against  its  constitu- 
tionality, however  ill-timed  and  unnecessary  may  have  been 
the  exercise  of  a  rigor  so  great.  But  I  have  been  as  unable 
to  see,  in  the  times,  any  necessity  for  denying  the  writ,  as  I 
am  to  recognize  in  the  law  the  constitutional  exercise  of  the 
favor  that  is  granted.  Concurring  in  the  doctrine  that  the 
protection  against  the  abuse  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Con- 
federate States,  either  by  usurpation  of  powers  or  oppressive 
Bse  of  such  as  are  granted,  is  "  to  be  found  in  the  responsibili- 
ty of  Congress  to  the  people,  ensured  by  their  short  tenure 
©f  office,  and  in  the  reserved  right  of  each  State  to  resume  the 
powers  delegated  to  the  Confederate  government,  whenever  in 
her  judgment  they  are  perverted  to  the  injury  or  oppression 
of  the  people,"  I  deem  a  duty  devolved  on  the  State,  through 
her  proper  organs,  to  make  known  to  that  government  her 
complaints  and  to  insist  upon  a  redress  of  her  grievances- 
Under  this  idea  of  duty,  and  in  a  spirit  of  regard  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  our  adoption,  I  deem  it  incumbent  to  present  my 
objections  against  the  late  act. 

It  is  declared  in  the  preamble  that  "  the  President  has  ask- 
ed for  the  suspension,  and  informed  Congress  of  conditions  of 
public  danger  which  render  a  suspension  of  the  writ  a  meas- 
ure proper  for  the  public  defence  against  invasion  and  insur- 
rection." Thereupon  it  is  exacted  that  the  writ  shall  be  sus- 
pended as  to  "  the  cases  of  persons  arrested  or  detained  by 
order  of  the  President,  Secretary  of  War,  or  the  General 
Officer  commanding  the  Trans-Mississippi  military  depart- 
ment." 


1864.]  Dooumknt  No.  1.  *  7 

The  statute  proceeds  to  classify  under  thirteen  heads  a  very 
great  number  of  acts,  of  which,  if  a  man  be  accused,  he  shall 
be  deprived  of  the  benefit  of  the  writ ;  and  among  them  the 
act  of  attempting  to  "  avoid  military  service."  To  prevent 
the  outrage  which  may  be  perpetrated  on  an  innoeent  man  not 
subject  to  military  service  for  merely  attempting  "  to  avoid 
military  service,"  unlawfully  demanded,  it  is  provided  that 
"in  case  of  palpable  wrong  and  oppression  by  any  subordi- 
nate officer  upon  any  party  who  does  not  legally  owe  milita- 
ry serviee,  his  superior  officer  shall  grant  prompt  relief  to  the 
oppressed  party,  and  the  subordinate  shall  be  dismissed  from 
office." 

And  as  a  general  protection  of  the  citizens  against  abuses, 
under  the  act,  it  is  provided,  that  "  the  President  shall  cause 
proper  officers  to  investigate  the  cases  of  all  persons  so  ar- 
rested or  detained,  in  order  that  they  may  be  discharged  if 
improperly  detained,  unless  they  can  be  speedily  tried  in  due 
course  of  law." 

And,  finally  it  is  enacted  that  "  no  military  or  other  officer 
shall  be  compelled  in  answer  to  any  writ  of  habeas  corpus  to 
appear  in  person  or  to  return  the  body  of  any  person  detain- 
ed by  the  authority  of  the  President,  Secretary  of  War,"  &c. ; 
"but  upon  the  certificate,  under  oath,  of  the  officer  having 
charge  of  any  one  so  detained,  that  such  person  is  detained 
by  him  for  any  of  the  causes  specified  in  the  act  under  said 
.authority,  further  proceedings  under  the  writ  shall  imme- 
diately cease." 

In  order  to  ascertain  whether  the  enactment  is  within  the 
powers  delegated,  it  is  proper  to  keep  in  mind  what  are  the 
privileges  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  we  shall  be  sure 
to  know  what  can  be  affected  constitutionally,  by  suspension 
of  it.  This  writ  is  the  offspring  of  the  love  of  liberty,  and 
has  been  in  use  for  ages  by  our  ancestors  and  ourselves,  as 
the  hand-maid  of  fredem.  Its  use  is  to  have  enquiry]  made 
according  to  the  rules  of  law  of  the  causes  why  persons  are 
restrained  of  their  civil  freedom.  If  upon  enquiry  by  the 
proper     authority,    there     be    no    cause     detention,    the 


4£  Document  Not  1.  [Adj.  Session 

person  is  set  at  liberty.  If  there  be  cause  he  is-  remanded 
for  further  detention  or  allowed  to  go  at  large  upon  bail.— 
Now,  these  are  all  the  privileges  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 
The  writ  finds  no  place  for  action  until  after  the  person  is 
arrested.  So  that  if  there  be  any  privileges  or  securities  to 
the  person  attending  the  mode  of  arrest,  these  are  not  the 
privileges  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  but  exist  independ- 
ently of  them.  And  it  is  therefore  clear  that  a  power  to  sus- 
pend the  privileges  of  the  writ  is  not  a  power  to  suspend  the 
privileges  secured  in  forms  attending  the  mode  of  arrest. — 
They  are  too  distinct  to  be  confounded  by  any  species  of 
sophistry ',  and  this  distinction  is  plainly  and  notably  observed 
in  the  bill  to  suspend  the  writ,  passed  through  the  Senate  in 
January,  1807,  which  suspends  it  only  when  the  person 
may  have  been  "  charged  on  oath,"  and  arrested  by  virtue  of 
"  a  warrant."  The  writ  was  as  effectually  suspended  by  that 
bill  as  by  this  act,  and  the  Constitutional  securities  attending 
the  mode  of  arrest,  were  left  untouched  and  unimpaired.  It 
may  be  then  regarded  as  settled  truth,  that  the  suspension 
of  the  writ  is  no  suspension  of  the  constitutional  forms  pre- 
scribed for  arrest,  and  that  Congress  has  no  power,  express 
or  implied,  to  suspend  any  other  guaranty  of  civil  liberty  pro- 
vided in  the  Constitution  besides  those  secured  by  the  writ 
alone*  Notwithstanding  this,  the  late  act  has  strode  over 
some  of  the  most  important  guards  of  civil  liberty,  as  if  "an 
express  power  had  been  conferred  on  Congress  to  suspend 
thern  likewise.  Thus,  while  by  paragraph  3,  section  9,  it  is  al- 
lowed Congress  to  suspend  the  privileges  of  the  writ  of  habeas- 
corpus'va.  the  emergencies  mentioned,  it  is  by  the  same  section,, 
paragraph  15,  in  the  most  emphatic  terms,  declared  that 
"No  warrant  shall  issue  but  upon  probable  cause,  supported 
by  oath  or  affirmation,  and  particularly  describing  the  per- 
son to  be  seized."  And  by  paragraph  16,  that  "  no  person 
shall  be  deprived  of  his  liberty  without  due  process  of  law": — 
that  is,  "law  in  its  regular  course  of  administration,  through 
courts  of  justice,"  (1  Kent's  Com;  sec.  24,  paragraphs  13-14.), 
The  beginning  of  this  due  process  is  first  the  charge  on  oath,. 


1864.]:  Document'  No.  1. 


9 


and  the  next  step  is-  the  warrant  describing  the  person  to  be 
seized.  The  third  is  the  arrest,  and  until  this  takes  place  the 
habeas  corpus  has  no  status,  and  cannot  possibly  have  any.  At 
this  point  the  writ  springs  into  being,  if  not  denied,  and  as 
here  only  its  aid  can  be  sought  for  the  first  time,  so  here  for 
the  first  time  can  its  privilege  be  denied.  Yet  the  act  in- 
volves with  its  suspension  a  suspension  of  the  distinct  and  in- 
dependent provisions  which  guard  the  citizen*  against  a  false 
charge  and  the  dangers  of  a  general  warrant. 

In  my  judgment  Congress  had  the  same  power  to  suspend 
every  other  guard  of  civil  liberty  to  be  fouad  in  the  Consti- 
tution— the  same  to  deprive  the  citizen  of  the  guaranty  that 
he-  should  not  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital  crime,  unless 
on  presentment  or  indictment  of  a  grand  jury — that  he  should 
not  be  compelled  to  be  a  witness  against  himself — that  he 
should  have  the  right  to  a  speedy  arid  public  trial  by  an  im- 
partial jury,  and  a  trial  in  the  district  in  which  the  crime 
shall  have  been  committed.  , 

The  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  peculiar  to  the  English  people 
and  ourselves.  And  a  complete  illustration  of  the  operation 
of  a  suspension  of  its  privileges  will  be  seen  by  supposing 
that  it  had  no  existence  here.  In  such  case  no  provision 
would  have  been  found  for  its  suspensions.  But  the  clause 
requiring  charge  of  crime  to  be  made  on  oath  and  warrant 
to  describe  the  person  to  be  seized,  would  have  been  not  only 
very  proper,  but  the  more  necessary  to  be  inserted.  These 
could  not  have  been  legally  disturbed  by  Congress,  and  any 
legislation  dispensing  with  them  had  been  mere  usurpation 
and  void. 

Such  is  the  general  view  I  have  taken,  of  the  act  as  it  is 
supposed  to  relate  to  eriuies.  But  the  statute  is  construed  to 
reach  cases  involving  no  offence  whatever,,  legal  or  moral ; 
and  though  there  is  some  difference  of  opinion  upon  the 
question  whether  paragraph  5  of  section  1,  embraces  the  case 
of  a  citizen  not  liable  military  duty,  who  neithes  flies  nor  re- 
sists, but  simply  appeals  of  tries  to  appeal  to  the  constitu- 
tional repositors  of  the-  law  for  a  decision-  upon  his  rights, 


10  Document  Ino.  1.  [Adj-  Session 

yet  there  is  too  much  reason  to  believe  that  the  language  is 
susceptible  of  the  interpretation  that  it  does  include  such 
persons;  and  such  is  the  interpretation  put  upon  it  by  the 
military  authorities.  And  as  the  suspension  was  asked  by  the 
President,  it  is  but  just  to  infer  that  it  was  drawn  to  suit  him, 
and  his  exposition  carries  the  intended  meaning  of  the  para- 
graph. 

I  am  unable  to  see  any  reason  consistent  with  the  princi- 
ples of  a  free  and  civilized  government,  provided  with  a  judi- 
ciary as  a  great  and  independent  branch  of  its  composition, 
for  suspending  the  habeas  corpus  in  cases  which  involve  no 
evasion  or  attempt  to  evade  military  service  that  is  due,  but 
which  merely  ask  when  honest  opinions  differ  to  have  the 
point  settled  by  those  tribunals  which  settle  all  matters  of 
controversy  between  citizen  and  citizen,  and  a  citizen  and  his 
government.  If  a  citizen  owe  not  any  military  service  to  the 
government,  he  has  as  much  right  to  refuse  to  render  it,  when 
wrongfully  claimed  of  him,  as  he  has  to  refuse  to  pay  a  debt  to 
the  government  wrongfully  claimed  of  him;  and  if  in  both 
cases  he  stands  fairly  up  and  submits  to  an  investigation  of 
the  question  before  those  tribunals  learned  in  such  matters 
and  appointed  because  of  their  fitness  and  skill,  it  would  be 
just  as  reasonable  to  suspend  the  writ  in  the  alleged  debt  of 
money  as  in  the  case  of  the  alleged  debt  of  service.  This 
course  might,  and  likely  would,  hasten  the  payment  of  a 
debt  just  or  unjust,  and  so  it  may  serve  to  put  men  in  the 
army  exempt  by  the  laws  of  the  land. 

There  is  no  instance  of  a  suspension  at  any  time  of  the 
writ,  or  the  privilege  of  the  writ,  if  there  be  any  difference 
between  them,  tor  any  other  cause,  either  in  England  or 
America.  Many  suspensions  of  the  privileges  of  the  writ 
occurred  in  England  between  the  passage  of  the  habeas  cor- 
pus act  and  the  Revolution,  running  through  a  period  of 
almost  a  century,  and  they  all  empowered  the  King  either  to 
apprehend  and  detain,  or  to  secure  and  detain  without  bail, 
such  persons  as  are  suspected  of  conspiracy  against  the  King 
and  his  government. 


1864 J  Document  No.  1.  11 

There  was  a  British  act  of  1777,  which  denied  the  writ  to 
"  persons  taken  in  the  act  of  high  treason,  committed  in  any 
of  the  colonies,  or  on  the  high  seas,  or  in  the  act  of  piracy, 
or  who  were  charged  with  or  suspected  of  any  of  those 
crimes."    (Hurd.  132.) 

The  other  suspensions  in  England  after  our  revolutio  \  com- 
menced in  1794,  and  continued  at  intervals  till  1802,  during 
the  storms  of  the  French  Eevolution.  They  are  of  the  same 
character  as  those  before,  and  affected  those  only  who  were 
charged  with  conspiring  against  the  King  and  his  government. 
The  suspension  during  Shay's  rebellion  extended  to  crime 
or  suspected  crime.  The  attempted  suspension  in  1807  was 
confined  to  persons  chrged  "with  treason  or  other  high  crime 
Or  misdemeanor,  endangering  the  peace,  safety  or  neutrality 
of  the  United  States."  The  idea  cannot  be  entertained  for  a 
moment  that  the  power  of  suspending  the  writ  was  granted 
for  any  such  purpose  as  that  of  depriving  a  citizen  of  the 
privilege  of  a  legal  enquiry  into  his  obligation  to  perform 
military  service,  in  order  to  fill  the  army  with  soldiers.  If 
such  a  power  exist,  the  sovereignty  of  the  States  is  at  the 
mercy  of  the  Confederate  government.  Where  lies  the  relief 
against  the  conscription  of  the  entire  body  of  State  officers  % 
By  this  act  it  is  deposited  with  the  President  alone !  His 
officers  alone  can  give  the  discharge — Confederate  officers 
chosen  without  even  the  consent  of  the  Senate,  and  removed 
at  will.  The  appropriate  tribunals  are  entirely  over-looked : 
the  State  Judges  are  thrust  aside  without  ceremony,  and  even 
the  Confederate  Judge,  who  holds  his  office  during  good  be- 
haviour, is  ignored,  and  in  their  room  is  placed  an  officer 
who  lives  on  the  breath  of  the  Confederate  Executive.  If 
the  State  officers  are  not  put  into  the  army  under  such  power 
in  the  Executive,  it  is  because  the  incumbent  does  not  will 
it ;  and  when  the  rights  of  the  State  shall  exist  by 
such  a  courtesy,  they  will  cease  to  have  any  existence  at 
all.  It  is  hard  to  divine  a  sufficient  reason  for  displacing 
the  civil  tribunals  already  established,  and  substituting  oth- 
ers so  dependent  upon  the  Executive  for  their  existence. — 


12  Document  No.  1.  [Adj.  Session 

The  assurance  of  public  men,  that  the  power  will  iiot  be 
"abused,  can  never  remove  the  fears  of  freetnen$  Who  rely 
only  upon  written  Constitutions  to  protect  their  liberties.-* 
History  is  too  full  of  wrong  to  allow  them  to  forget  for  a  mo- 
ment that  eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  freedom. 

It  is  manifest  that  the  act  contemplates  that  the  military 
shall  be  invested  with  full  powers  to  arrest  any  person,  who 
maybe  suspected  of  any  of  the  vague  and  ill  defined  charges 
mentioned ;  and  such  is  the  interpretation  put  on  it  by  the 
general  orders  of  Adjutant  General  Cooper,  thus  suspending 
the  civil  authorities  throughout  the  land,  and  it  is  equally 
clear  that  it  also  contemplates  that  the  order  of  the  President 
for  arresting  or  detaining  citizens,  shall  be  a  general  order  to 
arrest  and  detain  all  such  as  may  come  within  the  category 
of  suspected  persons — without  naming  or  describing  the  in- 
dividual— and  each  military  officer  who  may  be  deputed  for 
that  purpose  will  be  invested  with  a  perfect  discretion  over 
the  liberty  oi  every  citizen  in"  the  land.  In  substance  and, 
effect  the  President  is  intended  to  be  empowered  with  au- 
thority to  fill  the  land  with  military  deputies,  who  may  seize 
any  citizen  without  warrant  or  oath  of  probable  cause,  under 
a  general  warrant  from  the  President  to  arrest  all  suspected 
persons.  Such  a  warrant  is  without  precedent  in  England 
for  the  last  hundred  years,  and  during  the  entire  century  past 
has  been  forbidden,  denounced  and  declared  void. 

In  my  judgment,  the  President  is  vested  by  the  Confeder- 
ate Constitution,  with  no  part  of  the  judicial  authority,  except 
in  cases  arising  in  the  land  and  naval  forces,  or  in  the  militia, 
when  in  actual  service  under  his  orders.  If  he  is  vested  with 
a  particle  of  civil  judicial  jurisdiction,  where  is  the  grant,  of  it 
and  how  far  does  it  extend  ?  If  he  have  the  power  to  issue  a 
warrant  for  the  arrest  of  a  civilian  suspected  of  violating  a 
law  of  the  Confederate  States,  he  may  make  it  returnable  and 
examinable  before  himself,  and  order  a  discharge  or  require 
bail.  It  is  certain  that  the  mere  suspension  of  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  does  not  invest  the  President  with  the  powers 
of  a  civil  judicial  magistrate,  and  if  it  could  have  that  effect 


1864]  Document  No.  1.  13 

it  could  not  give  him  an  authority  while  discharging  his  judi- 
cial jurisdiction  to  lay  aside  the  restraints  imposed  on  all  other 
judges. 

The  course  adopted  by  the  administration,  of  allowing  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus  to  issue,  and  of  forthwith  checking  the 
action  of  the  judge  and  suspending  his  farther  proceed- 
ings ad  libitum,  to  await  the  reports  of  military  officers  having 
custody  of  the  petitioner  to  their  superiors,  and  finally  sub- 
jecting the  case  to  the  decision  of  the  war  department  in 
derogation  of  civil  authority,  is  humiliating  to  the  indepen- 
dent character  of  the  judiciary  and  tends  to  the  great  danger 
of  liberty,  to  familiarize  the  people  with  military  supremacy. 

It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  these  are  merely 
my  opinions.  The  Supreme  Court,  which  alone  has  the  pow- 
er to  decide  upon  the  constitutionality  of  the  law,  has  not  yet 
spoken.  When  it  does  speak  we  must  give  heed  to  its  voice, 
so  long  as  the  law  remains  on  our  statute  books.  But  wheth- 
er for  constitutional  reasons,  or  reasons  of  mere  policy,  the 
people  have  a  right  to  demand  the  repeal  of  any  obnoxious 
law.  On  both  grounds  I  recommend  that  you  urge  Con- 
gress to  repeal  the  act  suspending  the  privilege  of  habeas 
corpus;  or,  should  you  concur  in  the  judgment  of  Congress 
that  a  suspension  is  required  by  the  exigencies  of  the  times, 
that  it  should  at  least  be  modified  and  stripped  of  its  uncon- 
stitutional or  (at  least)  obnoxious  features. 

My  opinion  on  this  subject  is  well  known.  In  the  first 
message  I  had  the  honor  to  send  to  your  body,  in  1S62, 
speaking  of  the  then  existing  act  authorizing  a  suspension  of 
the  writ,  I  used  the  following  language  :  "I  have  not  seen  an 
official  copy  of  the  act,  but  learn  from  the  newspapers  that 
Congress  has  conferred  upon  the  President  the  power  to  sus- 
pend the  writ  of 'habeas  corpus  in  all  cases  of  arrests  made  by 
Confederate  authority.  If  this  be  once  admitted,  no  man 
is  safe  from  the  power  of  one  individual.  He  could  at  pleas- 
ure seize  any  citizen  of  the  State,  with  or  without  excuse, 
throw  him  into  prison  and  •permit  him  to  languish  there, 
without  relief— a  power  that  I  am  unwilling  to  see  entrusted 


14  Document  No.  1.  [Adj.  Session 

to  any.  living  man.  To  submit  to  its  exercise  would,  in  my 
opinion,  be  establishing  a  precedent  dangerous  and  pernici- 
ous in  the  extreme."  &c. 

There  is  nothing  of  this  I  am  desirous  of  taking  away  or 
adding  to.  My  earnest  remonstrance  against  the  passage  of 
the  present  act  is  herewith  transmitted,  together  with  divers 
other  letters  to  the  Confederate  authorities,  in  relation  to  the 
execution  of  the  civil  laws,  rights  of  the  people,  &c,  and 
which  will  convince  you,  I  trust,  that  T  have  been  equally 
zealous  to  guard  against  the  inner  as  well  as  the  outer  dan- 
gers which  threaten  us. 

Many  recurring  dangers  of  serious  conflict  with  the  Con- 
federate government,  especially  in  relation  to  the  seizure  of 
principals  of  substitutes  after  discharge  by  a  judge,  have  been 
upon  me  since  your  last  session.  Tuey  were  fortunately  avoided 
however ;  but  their  solution  would  have  been  easy  could  I 
but  have  had  the  assistance  of  the  Supreme  Court.  I  greatly 
regret  that  you  did  not  see  proper  to  comply  with  my  recom- 
mendation, when  you  were  last  in  session,  to  authorize  some 
one  to  convene  that  body  in  cases  of  great  importance,  and 
which  admit  of  no  delay.  I  can  but  repeat  it  now,  for  many 
obvious  reasons. 

Nor  have  I,  amid  all  the  embarrassments  and  perplexities 
of  the  situation,  been  unmindful  of  the  great  object  of  all  our 
blood  and  suffering — peace,  or  neglectful  of  all  proper  and 
honorable  efforts  to  obtain  it — knowing  the  great  desire  of 
our  people  to  save  the  precious  blood  of  their  children.  If  by 
any  possibility  an  opening  might  be  found  for  the  statesman 
to  supercede  the  soldier,  I  approached  the  President  on  the 
first  opportunity  presented  by  the  cessation  of  hostilities  last 
winter,  and  urged  him  to  appoint  commissioners  and  try 
what  might  be  done  by  negotiations.  I  had  little  hope,  in- 
deed, of  those  commissioners  being  received  by  the  govern- 
ment of  our  enemy,  but  I  thought  it  our  duty,  for  humanity's 
sake,  to  make  the  effort,  and  to  convince  our  own  suffering 
people  that  their  government  was  tender  of  their  lives  an4 
property  and  happiness. 


1864.]  Document  No.  1.  15 

My  letter  to  the  President  last  December  and  his  reply 
are  sent  herewith  for  your  information. 

I  respectfully  recommend  that  you,  as  the  representatives 
of  the  people  of  North-Carolina,  should  lay  down  what  you 
would  consider  a  fair  basis  of  peace,  and  call  upon  our  repre- 
sentatives in  Congress,  and  those  to  whom  is  committed  the 
power  of  making  treaties,  by  the  Constitution,  to  neglect  no 
fitting  opportunity  of  offering  such  to  the  enemy.  These 
terms,  in  my  judgment,  should  be  nothing  less  than  the  in- 
dependence of  those  States,  whose  destinies  have  been  fairly 
united  with  the  Confederacy  by  the  voice  of  their  people, 
and  the  privilege  of  a  free  choice  to  those  which  have  been 
considered  doubtful. 

I  presume  that  no  honorable  man  or  patriot  could  think  of 
any  thing  less  than  independence.  Less  would  be  subjugation, 
ruinous  and  dishonorable.  Nobody  at  the  North  thinks  of 
reconstruction,  simply  because  it  is  impossible.  With  a  Con- 
stitution torn  into  shreds,  with  slavery  abolished,  with  our 
property  confiscated  and  ourselves  and  our  children  reduced 
to  beggary,  our  slaves  put  in  possession  of  our  lands,  and  in- 
vested with  equal  rights,  social  and  political,  and  a  great  gulf 
yawning  between  the  North  and  South,  filled  with  the  blood 
ot  our  murdered  sons,  and  its  waves  laden  with  the  debris  of 
our  ruined  homes,  how  can  there  be  any  reconstruction  with 
the  authors  of  these  evils,  or  how  can  it  be  desirable  if  it 
were  possible?  Lincoln  himself  says  it  is  not  possible;  so 
does  Mr.  Fillmore,  a  man  whom  we  once  respected,  and  so 
do  nine-tenths  of  their  orators  and  presses.  The  only  terms 
ever  offered  us  contained  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  infamous  procla- 
mation, were  alike  degrading  in  matter  and  insulting  in 
manner,  being  addressed  not  to  the  authorities,  Confederate 
or  State,  of  the  South,  but  to  individuls,  who  by  the  very  act 
of  accepting  its  terms  would  have  proven  themselves  the  vilest 
of  mankind. 

I  cannot  too  earnestly  warn  you,  gentlemen,  and  the  coun- 
try, against  the  great  danger  of  these  insidious  attempts  of  the 
enemy  to  seduce  our  people  into  treating  with  him  for  peace, 


16  Document  No.  1.  [Adj.  Session 

individually  or  by  the  formation  of  spurious  States  or  parts 
of  States.  Indeed,  I  might  add  that  I  look  upon  any  attempt 
to  treat  lor  peace,  other  than  through  the  regular  channels 
provided  by  our  constitution,  so  long  as  our  government  is 
maintained,  as  almost  equally  dangerous*  It  is  the  real  peril 
of  the  hour.  The  long  continuance  and  bloody  character  of 
the  war  have  so  exhausted  the  patience  of  our  suffering  peo- 
ple, that  many  of  them  are  in  a  condition  to  listen  eagerly  to 
terms  of  peace,  without  duly  considering  what  the  results 
would  be  or  how  they  are  to  be  acquired.  An  example  of 
this  great  danger  is  to  be  found  in  the  attempt  of  the  British 
ministry,  in  1778,  to  seduce  the  loyalty  of  our  forefathers  from 
the  cause  of  independence,  by  sending  peace  commissioners 
to  the  colonies,  with  the  propositions  contained  in  Lord 
North's  "conciliating  bills."  These  bills  proposed  to  abolish 
all  taxation  whatever  upon  the  colonies,  except  what  might 
be  necessary  for  the  convenience  of  commerce — the  nett  pro- 
ceeds of  which  were  to  go  to  the  use  of  the  colonies,  to  sus- 
pend the  operations  of  all  obnoxious  statutes  in  reference  to 
said  colonies  passed  since  1763,  and  authorized  these  com- 
missioners to  pardon  all  such  persons  as  they  saw  proper  and 
to  treat  with  "the  existing  governments  or  individuals." 
Here  almost  all  the  principal  matters  of  dispute  were  conce- 
ded ;  but  our  fathers  had  an  organized  government  and  had 
set  their  hearts  on  independence.  Yet  the  terms  offered 
were  so  fair  that  but  for  the  firmness  and  wisdom  of  the 
great  George  Washington,  and  the  unflinching  patriotism  of 
Congress,  the  fate  of  this  continent  might  have  been  changed  ; 
so  great  was  the  weariness  of  the  people  and  so  gloomy  were 
the  prospects.  The  danger  of  allowing  commissioners  to  ad- 
dress themselves  to  any  body  but  Congress  was  so  great,  as  well 
as  such  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  war  and  international  cour- 
tesy, that  that  body,  after  promptly  rejecting  the  propositions 
and  declaring  that  "the  only  solid  proof"  of  a  disposition  on 
the  part  of  the  crown  to  make  an  honorable  peace  with  the 
colonies,  "would  be  an  explicit  acknowledgment  of  the  inde- 
pendence of  these  States,  or  the  withdrawal  of  the  fleets  and 


18G4]  Document  No.  1.  17 

armies" — went  on  solemnly  to  declare  the  measure  "to  be 
contrary  to  the  law  of  nations,  and  utterly  subversive  of  that 
confidence  which  could  alone  maintain  those  means  which 
had  been  invented  to  alleviate  the  horrors  of  war ;  and  that 
therefore  ike  persons  employed  to  distribute  such  papers  were 
not  entitled  to  the  protection  of  a  flag  P 

General  Washington  was  so  astonished  and  indignant,  that 
on  its  first  appearance  he  was  induced  to  regard  it  as  a  for- 
gery, and  in  a  letter  to  the  President  of  Congress,  he  used  the 
following  language,  remarkable  for  its  severity  in  coming 
from  him  :  "  The  enclosed  draft  of  a  bill  was  brought  to  Head- 
quarters yesterday  afternoon  by  a  gentleman  who  informed 
me  that  a  large  cargo  of  them  had  just  been  sent  out  of  Phila- 
delphia. Whether  this  insidious  proceeding  is  genuine  and 
imported  in  the  packet,  or  contrived  in  Philadelphia,  i»  a 
point  undetermined  and  immaterial ;  but  it  is  certainly  foun- 
ded in  principles  of  the  most  wicked,  diabolical  baseness,  and 
meant  to  poison  the  minds  of  the  people,  and  detach  the 
wavering  at  least  from  our  cause."  And  again  :  ';The  neces: 
sitj  of  putting  the  army  on  a  respectable  footing,  both  as  to 
the  numbers  and  constitution,  is  now  become  more  essential 
than  ever.  Tne  enemy  are  beginning  to  play  a  game  more 
dangerous  than  their  efforts  by  arms  (though  these  will  not 
be  remitted  in  the  smallest  degree,)  which  threatens  a  fatal 
blow  to  the  independence  of  America,  and,  of  course,  to  her 
liberties.  They  are  endeavoring  to  ensnire  the  people  by  spe- 
cious allurements  of  peace.  It  is  not  improbable  they 
have  had  such  abundant  cause  to  be  tired  of  the  war,  that" 
they  may  be  sincere  in  the  terms. which  they  offer,  which, 
though  far  short  of  onr  pretensions,  will  be  extremely  flatter- 
ing to  minds  that  do  not  penetrate  far.  into  political  conse- 
quences; but  whether  they  are  sincere  or  not,  they  may  be 
equally  destructive  ;  for,  to  discerning  men,  nothing  can  be 
more  evident  than  that  a  peace  on  the  principles  oUIepcnde?icc\ 
however  limited,  after  what  has  happr/'cd.  !<\u!dbe  to  the  last 
degree  dishonorable  and  ruinous.  f         * 

"  It  is  doubtful  whether  many  of  our^friends  might  not  incline 


18  Document  No.  1.  [Adj.  Session 

to  an  -accommodation  on  the  grounds  held  out,  or  which  may 
be,  rather  than  persevere  in  a  contest  for  independence, 

"  If  this  is  the  case,  it  must  surely  be  the  truest  policy  to 
strengthen  the  army  and  place  it  upon  a  substantial  footing. 
This  will  conduce  to  inspire  the. country  with  confidence  5 
*  *  *and  if  a  treaty  should  be  deemed  expedient,  Will 
put  it  in  their  power  to  insist  upon  better  terms  than  they 
could  otherwise  expect." 

By  such  timely  counsel  did  the  great  "Washington  sustain 
the  cause  of  independence — buoying  up  the  hopes  of  our 
ancestors  and  laboring  to  meet  these  insidious  attempts  of  the 
British  to  decoy  them  into  the  dangers  of  seeking  peace  by 
irregular  and  revolutionary  methods.  Again,  in  another  let- 
ter to  the  same  person,  he  says  :  "  It  seems  to  me  nothing 
short  of  independence  can  possibly  do.  The  injuries  we  have 
received  from  Britain  can  never  be  forgotten,  and  a  peace 
upon  other  terms  would  be  the  source  of  perpetual  feuds  and 
animosity.  "  The  civilized  world,  wherever  liberty  is  wor- 
shipped, has,  with  one  voice,  thanked  God  for  the  gift  of 
"Washington.  Should  we,  his  countrymen,  recipients  ot  the 
blessings  of  his  wisdom  and  valor,  refuse  to  heed  his  warning 
voice  ? 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  these  "specious  allurements  of 
peace,"  described  and  denounced  by  Gen.  "Washington,  have* 
not, been  presented  by  the  enemy.  "We  are  trying  to  delude 
ourselves.  So  great  is  the  hostility  and  so  furious  the  fanati- 
cism of  the  dominant  party  at  the  North,  that  they  have  not 
even  offered  us  terms  that  could  be  regarded  by  the  most 
timid  and  wavering  as  "  alluring."  Lincoln's  proclamation  is 
so  grossly  outrageous  and  so  repugnant  to  our  every  idea  of 
liberty,  property, e.nd  honor,  as  to  ensure  the  rejection  of  the 
terms  it  holds  out,  while  it  adds  weight  and  gives  a  tone  of 
authority  to  the  oft7Kepeated  assertions  of  their  public  men 
and  presses, ; that  th,ey  want  no  compromise  but  will  only  be 
content  with  our  subjugation.  If  our  enemy  were  really 
willing,  under  any  circumstances,  to  compromise  with  us 
upon  any  t.qrms  short  of  our  absolute  submission,  they  would 


1864.]  Document  No.  1.  19 

certainly  say  so,  and  that  to  those  whom  they  know  to  be 
authorized  to  entertain  their  propositions.  The  insidiums  at- 
tempts to  invoke  separate,  individual  and  State  action,  proves 
this  conclusively,  and  can  have  no  other  intention  than  to 
plunge  ns  into  civil  war  and  to  subjugate  us  beyond  redemp- 
tion. How  strange  then  to  think,  as  some  our  people  honest- 
ly do,  that  the  very  plan  proposed  by  the  enemy  for  our 
destruction,  is  the  best  way  to  secure  a  speedy  and  honorable 
peace !  I  respectfully  submit  that  my  plan,  based  on  the 
wisdom  and.  patriotism  of  Washington,  and  the  universal 
teaching  of  history — to  strengthen  and  sustain  the  army,  and 
negotiate  through  the  proper  channels — is  the  safer  and  the 
better  one. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  safe,  true  and  conservative  path 
through  all  our  troubles,  lies  in  guarding  alike  against  the 
destruction  of  law  and  liberty  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  impa- 
tience  of  the  people  under  the  burdens  of  war  on  the  other, 
while  with  both  hands,  and  with  all  our  strength  and  hearts 
and  souls  we  uphold  and  maintain  those  who,  even  as  I  write, 
are  battling  and  bleeding  for  the  rights  and  independence  of 
their  country.  I  confess  I  am  not  of  those  who  seem  to  think 
the  greatest  danger  to  our  rights  and  liberties  is  from  our  own 
people  and  our  own  government.  While  struggling  to  resist 
the  inevitable  tendencies  of  revolution  to  destroy  civil  free- 
dom at  home,  I  cannot  forget  that  the  danger  from  without 
threatens  the  destruction  of  everything — that  there  comes 
from  the  North  a  rank  and  bloody  despotism,  fierce  and 
fanatical,  gory  with  our  people's  blood  and  blackened  by  the 
smoke  of  their  burning  homes,  with  hordes  of  armed  slaves 
thirsting  to  complete  the  demoniac  work  of  wasting  and  des- 
troying, and  panting  to  sow  salt  in  the  furrows  of  the  plow- 
share of  desolation,  as  it  runs  over  our  razed  cities,  and  in 
whose  march  forms  of  law,  constitutions,  free  governments, 
life,  home,  property,  all,  all  go  down  to  rise  no  more  till  God 
shall  implant  in  the  bosoms  of  a  new  generation  the  princi- 
ples of  liberty  and  love  of  peace,  which  this,  in  its  madness, 
has  cast  off. 

In  additon  to  the  many  brilliant  victories  which  have 
crowned  our  arms  this  spring  in  all  parts  of  the  Confederacy, 
I  have  the  sincere  pleasure  to  congratulate  you  upon  the 
very  splendid  success  of  the  opening  of  the  campaign  in  out- 
State,  resulting  in  the  re-capture  ot  the  towns  of  Plymouth 
and  Washington,  and  the  rescue  of  a  considerable  portion  of 


20  Document  No.  1.  [Adj.  Ses.  1864. 

our  territory  from  the  enemy.  This  is  the  more  gratifying 
because  it  was  accomplished  by  troops  under  the  command 
of  two  distinguished  sons  of  North-Carolina,  Brigadier,  now 
Major  General  Hoke  commanding  the  land  forces,  and  Com- 
mands Cooke,  with  the  steam-ram  Albemarle.  I  donfet  not 
but  that  you  will  see  the  propriety  of  rendering  suitable 
thanks  to  these  galiant  ofiicers  and  the  brave  officers  and 
men  rr  dor  their  command  for  the  conspicuous  heroism  which 
has  been  rewarded  by  such  splendid  results.  We  cordial!}7 
and  gladly  welcome  back  our  fellow-citizens  of  that  region, 
thus  rescued  from  the  enemy,  to  the  embraces  of  their  moth- 
er State,  and  thank  them  for  their  steadfast  adherence  to  our 
cause  under  the  tyranny  and  oppression  of  our  foe.  Indeed, 
it  is  gratifying  to  observe  the  very  great  loyalty  and  patriot- 
ism of  that  whole  portion  of  our  Sta£e  within  or  contiguous 
to  the  enemy's  lin  ..like  subjected  to  his 

blandishments  and  his  ravages.  May  the  day  speedily  come 
when  our  jurisdiction  shall  again  extend  to  the  sands  of 
the  Atlantic. 

Several  other  matters  which  1  deem  it  unnecessary  to  spec- 
ify, will  thrust  themselves  upon  your  attention 

In  regard  to  financial  matters,  the  interesting  report  of  the 
Public  Treasurer  is.  so  full  and  complete  that  I  am  content 
merely  to  refer  you  to  it,  confident  that  I  could  not  improve 
upon  any  of  his  suggestions,  which  I,  in  the  main,  endorse. 

The  poor,  especially  the  indigent  families  of  our  soldiers, 
still  demand  our  care.  It.  is  justly  conceded  that  when  they 
are  not  able  to  support  themselves  the  State  should  support 
them  in  the  absence  of  their  natural  protectors.  I  cannot, 
however,. make  any  specific  recommendation  for  their  further 
relief,  but  should  any  plan  occur  to  your  superior  wisdom,  I 
doubt  not  but  you  will  promptly  act  upon  it.  It  will  be  vary 
difficult  for  many  of  them  to  struggle  through  till  harvest, 
especially  in  some  of  the  counties  of  the  west,  which  have 
1  een  preyed  upon  abke  by  friend  and  foe. 

Trusting  that  harmony  will  prevail  in  your  councils,  and 
that  much  good  may,  under  God,  result  to  the  country  there- 
from, I  cose  my  message  with  an  expression  of  readiness  to 
co-operate  with  }rou — should  it  lie  in  my  power — in  the  exe- 
cution of  the  labors  devolving  upon  you. 

Z.  B.  VANCE. 
Executive  Dkfaiitmknt.  ) 

May  it,  mm.       , 


